The next time Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri is asked about Eden Hazard he should avoid saying anything negative, whatever he actually thinks.
It is very, very risky to criticise your players in public like Sarri did this week – even if you know you are right.
Sometimes as a manager you really want to be open about what you are thinking, good or bad, and for the right reasons. You are hoping your players respond in the right way.
But if that openness is misinterpreted by them, then you have more problems.
What you really don’t want is a situation that plays out in the media like the one we have just seen at Chelsea. The only people who benefit when that happens are the newspapers.
Sarri spoke about Hazard, calling him an individual and not a leader, and then Hazard responded by basically saying he does not care what his manager thinks, he is still going to do his thing – so shut up!
That is already a sign of what can go wrong when you call your players out.
I have never really felt like Sarri’s job was at risk through all this but, if they keep talking about each other then, as a manager, he is in trouble.
That has nothing to do with the power of the player involved, either.
Yes, Hazard is Chelsea’s best player, and they rely on him too much, but it is the whole dressing room that Sarri has to handle here and keep happy, not just an individual.
Of course I have had plenty of situations as a manager where I was unhappy with a player but I never came out and spoke publicly about them – never.
There were times I was definitely right, and times I thought I was right, but either way I still knew I couldn’t say it.
It is very hard in that situation because, even if public opinion is different and fans are against you, you cannot explain yourself or try to change their minds. You just have to keep your mouth shut.
Instead, I tried to resolve the problems inside the dressing room, or on the training pitch, no matter how difficult it was.
Most of the time, a one-to-one conversation is the way to sort things out – not by speaking through the newspapers or to TV cameras.
If you start talking about your players rather than to them, then there is something wrong in your dressing room, and you obviously don’t want that.
All managers get angry, even at the great teams, but the difference there is that these stories do not come out.
Sarri has enough to deal with anyway, so why make things more difficult for himself?
Sarri spoke last week about his Chelsea players being difficult to motivate, but I think the actual issue is form. Obviously it goes up, and it also goes down – it is a normal cycle that affects every player.
With Chelsea, and specifically Hazard, there is a problem there because if he is not in form and scoring goals, then the whole team has been struggling.
If Mohamed Salah does not score for Liverpool, then they can rely on Mane and Roberto Firmino. It is the same at Manchester City where, if it is not Sergio Aguero or Gabriel Jesus finding the net it is Leroy Sane or Raheem Sterling.
But, apart from maybe Willian, who else have Chelsea got in their team who they have really been able to rely on to get them goals? They don’t have anyone.
That’s why, personally, I think Sarri’s biggest mistake was to buy Jorginho when he already had N’Golo Kante. They are a little bit different as players but both of them are holding midfielders.
With three goals and two assists, N’Golo Kante has been involved in 12.5% of Chelsea’s 40 goals in the Premier League this season. Hazard, with 10 goals and 10 assists, has been involved in 50%.
Kante is a World Cup winner and Jorginho is a player Sarri knows he can trust. He finds it difficult to choose between them, so he plays both.
He should pick one of them, and maybe look to Ross Barkley, who I like for his power, or, when he is fit again, Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Whoever it is, Chelsea need a midfielder who can add more to their attack, because that is what they are missing.
Chelsea have been short of a striker too, which is why Sarri has brought in Gonzalo Higuain, who played under him at Napoli.
I hope I am wrong, I really do, but Higuain is an old-fashioned striker who needs crosses and, if he plays up front all the time, he will not see many balls there because of the way Hazard and Willian play.
Those two always come inside, and dribble or shoot, and try to do things themselves.
So they don’t need a player up there who is a target man, because Chelsea don’t use one and, under Sarri, they never do.
Instead they need a centre-forward who can play in midfield too, and be effective on the ball as well as be a finisher inside the box. Firmino, who comes so deep for Liverpool, is the perfect example.
That is how Chelsea’s front man has to play too, which is why I am not sure Higuain is the answer. At the very least, he has a difficult job because, with the way they are set-up, he will not be able to play the way he wants.
We will have to wait and see, but Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud are both good strikers, and it has not worked out for them.
At 60, Sarri is yet to win any silverware as a manager. His biggest honour to date is being named Serie A’s ‘Coach of the Year’ for the 2016-17 season
After last Saturday’s defeat by Arsenal, and Sarri’s comments afterwards, it was looking like it could be a bad week for the Chelsea manager.
But, after Thursday’s penalty shoot-out win over Tottenham, he is into the final of the Carabao Cup and has the chance to win his first trophy as a manager.
To be honest, I don’t know how important it would be for him if the Blues beat Manchester City at Wembley.
Yes it will mean a lot to him personally, but it will not guarantee anything about his future at Stamford Bridge. Look at Antonio Conte, who won the Premier League then the FA Cup in two seasons but still had to leave.
I look at managers as being like shares on the stock market, because success in the past does not offer any security for the future.
That is especially true at Chelsea it seems. They have won 15 major trophies in the 16 years since Roman Abramovich took over, but have had nine permanent managers in that time.
I have had that job myself in the past of course, and I am looking forward to going back to Stamford Bridge for the FA Cup tie against Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday.
I always get a good welcome, and I had a great time when I was player and then manager there. I really loved it.
I think expectations at Chelsea are different now, because some of the supporters have been spoilt by success. They want more, all of the time, but the competition is immense – which just makes things more difficult for Sarri.
That is what he is up against, because in the end it is all about winning trophies, and sometimes even that is not enough.
• Ruud Gullit spoke to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.